meowLK

The cat that ran away ...

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

Sri Lanka is just about ready to mess up its power system a little bit more

I was going to stay out of this because when you have two utterly ignorant groups so entrenched in their views, it's impossible to have an informed conversation

Nevertheless, here are some thoughts
1/17

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@Grateful_Gabe @Rainmaker1973 If you're in a hurry, there are other brands offering comparable products. Have a look at Swiwin's offerings.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@tlbtlbtlb Most big manufacturers don’t want that risk. (e.g. Cruise)

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@tlbtlbtlb The problem with Full Self-Driving isn’t technical--it’s human.

Ask yourself: why don’t we have pilot-less passenger planes yet? Autoland technology has existed since the 1980s--it’s technically an easier problem. Because one crash would spark total outrage.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@sdianahu One path is to write (or generate) a formal specification first, then use automated theorem prover-like systems to verify that the produced code fully conforms to it. The interesting part is figuring out how to create or generate those specs without adding lots of work.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@bscholl This would become pointless unless you exclude solid-fuel rocket motors. I'd also rule out rocket assists. To stay true to your philosophy, you should also ban off-the-shelf engines!

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

Only a disingenuous politician would try to incite class wars by misusing its passages.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

The key message regarding agriculture that any sane person would take from reading Robert Knox’s book on SL is that every family—regardless of social status—participated in farming. This was different from Europe, where there was a clear divide between landowners and workers.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@GMalavige I think I’ve identified a possible alternative approach: Get the local political PR firms to tone down their propaganda a bit — make it believable even to mosquitoes. 😂
https://t.co/CuTauPy84G

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

I think the main reason for the current dengue epidemic is mosquitoes' stubborn refusal to watch local news. If they had seen even a little coverage of the 'Clean Sri Lanka' campaign, they’d realize SL is now pristinely clean and flown away!

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

I think the main reason for the current dengue epidemic is mosquitoes' stubborn refusal to watch local news. If they had seen even a little coverage of the 'Clean Sri Lanka' campaign, they’d realize SL is now pristinely clean and flown away!

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@Schuldensuehner One more possible culprit might be Dynamic Line Rating (DLR). Due to high temperatures and lack of wind, some transmission lines were likely derated, which could lead to higher congestion.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@Tyger_44 The lesson: monopolies—whether government or privately owned—lead to inefficiency and higher prices.
Imagine if the UK had restructured the water sector into competing private companies for water treatment plants, sewage treatment, etc. They likely wouldn’t be in this mess today.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

Thames Water will be back in the news soon, as the UK’s next PM is likely to nationalise it.

This is a clear example that private ownership of utilities alone doesn’t automatically deliver lower prices — in many cases, it’s done the opposite.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

The real key is creating genuine competition. Simply creating monopoly entities that don’t compete, while hoping regulators keep prices in check, is often a disaster.

Wrote about Thames Water’s issues earlier:

https://t.co/f4Jik0u4tA

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

Some Thoughts on Power Sector Reforms

It's important to remember that there are certain services that are ultimately the government's responsibility to provide to citizens.

For example, if a power or water utility company goes bust ...

(1/17)

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@paulg If you're thinking of making one, you can buy a mini CNC that will fit in your office for $7k now.

[Paul Graham @paulg]

Founders with technical backgrounds are often surprised by the results of such calculations too. Exponential growth is surprising. Indeed, that's probably as much as most people need to know about it: that it can produce crazy numbers.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

A tweet discussing exponentials reminds me that we Sri Lankans have an uncanny ability to focus on the wrong thing.

During COVID, while government figures were off by tens of thousands, people were arguing about the minor omission of just a few hundred.

https://t.co/ZJM00aJgiE

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

The lack of basic science and math education in Sri Lankan journalists is just amazing.

While everyone is arguing about a poxy 1000-1500 discrepancy about the daily infection numbers, real infections numbers are close to 15000!. Let's do the Math:

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@paulg The key line is 'Exponential growth is like magic.' Also, that's why COVID was so tragic!

I wish you simplified the math a bit by approximating 93% as doubling. Then the base becomes 2:

2 million × 2⁹ ≈ 1.024 billion, and 2 million × 2¹⁹ ≈ 1.048 Trillion.

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@pmarca The best way to accelerate all that is to have a country with a shrinking economy!

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

@HarshadeSilvaMP It's not the server version the main culprit, it's the server administration. I wrote some useful tips for those managing email servers here:
https://t.co/QGhJxwMO8a

[meowLK @Meow_LK]

PSA: Email Security Reality Check

Contrary to what most people think, the core email protocol (SMTP) has no built-in domain authentication.

That means anyone can send an email pretending to be from any domain — including your bank, government, or company.

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